Browncoats have been cursing Fox’s sudden but inevitable betrayal since the network canceled Firefly after one season.
The cult-classic series, however, may once more become a leaf on the wind, soaring back onto screens.
(OK, I’m finished shoehorning quotes into this article.)
Executive producer Tim Minear flooded Twitter with excitement last week when he tweeted a photo from the last day of shooting the short-lived program.
Star Alan Tudyk and showrunner Joss Whedon also added fuel to the digital fire.
With the door open for speculation, The Wrap probed Minear and Fox President of Entertainment Michael Thorn about what it would take to revive the space western.
“The macro answer is, any time we look at one of our classic titles, if there’s a way to reinvent it for today so it’s as resonant now as the original was, and is, to the fans, we’re wide open,” Thorn said at this week’s Television Critics Association press tour.
“I loved Firefly, personally, and I watched every episode. I didn’t work on it, but I loved the show,” he continued. “It had come up before, but we had The Orville on the air and it didn’t make sense for us to have, as a broadcast network who is very targeted, to have two space franchises on our air.”
A sci-fi dramedy from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, the series ran for two seasons (2017-2019) on Fox, and has since been renewed for a third, scheduled to air on Hulu later this year.
The show’s move to streaming, then, seems to free up that “space franchise” spot. But, as Thorn pointed out, Minear is “very busy” at the network, exec producing 9-1-1 and its upcoming spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star.
“But it’s a good idea,” Thorn told The Wrap.
Set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, Firefly follows the renegade crew of the Serenity. Only 11 of the first season’s 14 episodes aired (and out of order, for that matter). But since its cancellation in 2003, the show has become a beloved obsession.
“In this crowded marketplace, if you can start with some kind of brand awareness … and, in this case, a crazy, passionate love for it, you’re ahead of the game,” Thorn said.
A relaunch has certainly crossed Minear and Whedon’s minds. (And I’m not talking about Serenity, the 2005 film followup that acted as a big-screen finale.)
“We have talked about different permutations and how that might work,” Minear said. “Do you take two of the characters and put them in a different place and sort of retell a new story with two old characters, with new characters?”
No matter which pair you choose, though, some fans will feel personally slighted. Besides, the best character is dead, anyway.
And despite the close-knit cast, it’d be quite a feat to reunite everyone for a long-term project.
Captain Tightpants Nathan Fillion is busy with The Rookie, Gina Torres is guest starring on Riverdale, Morena Baccarin is in post-production on four films, and Adam Baldwin is hosting GunnyTime. I’m sure Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass are hard at work, too.
The only way to make this work, Minear pointed out, is by doing a limited series, like The X-Files.
“I would love to see, like, an eight- or 10-episode limited adventure in that universe,” he said.
So would an entire market of consumers.
For more, see Geek’s lineup of 11 Late ’90s TV Shows That Could Use a Reboot.
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- 11 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows to Binge Watch
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